Inking device



W- J. SATAS INKING DEVICE April 4, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1965 INVENTOVR. Wa flare J 'azas A ril 4, 1967 w. J. SATAS 3,

INKING DEVICE Filed March 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet z United States Patent 3,312,193 INKING DEVICE Wallace J. Satas, Hudson, Mass., assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass, a corporation of Nevada Filed Mar. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 437,515 1 Claim. (Cl. 118-264) This invention relates to ink pads and more particularly to pads for use on printing machines, such as shown for example in copending application Ser. No. 437,513, filed on even date herewith, which have an applicator rolling back and forth over pad and type to transfer ink to the type between printing operations.

Objects of the invention are to provide an ink pad which is simple and economical to produce, which can be mounted quickly and easily, which can be replenished with ink quickly, cleanly and uniformly throughout its area, which indicates when fully charged with ink, which facilitates change of ink color and which is durable and reliable in use.

According to this invention the device comprises a backing, a back ink absorbent pad in front of the back ing, a front ink absorbent pad in front of the back pad, a barrier between the two pads to control the absorption of ink by the front pad from the back pad, a pervious covering for the front pad, an elongate ink well adjacent to said back pad, and a duct communicating with said well near each end of the well, the well having one or more outlets leading to said back pad, whereby ink may be fed to the back pad through one of said ducts, the other duct serving as a breather and overflow. Preferably the aforesaid ducts comprise eyelets extending through the front pad and barrier, and the aforesaid back pad has channels extending from said outlets to distribute ink throughout the back pad. The preferred embodiment also has a holder with lips overlapping opposite edges of the pad, the holder being either flat or convex and the aforesaid backing being resilient so that the pad may be snapped under the lips.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a side view of the device showing means for supporting the device in a machine such as disclosed in the aforesaid copending application;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the device;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device;

FIG. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a modification; and

FIG. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

The particular embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 comprises a backing 1 of spring steel, an absorbent layer of felt 2 folded over the edges of the backing, and two additional layers 3 and 4 of soft felt superposed over the layer 2. Interposed between the layers 3 and 4 is a barrier 6 to retard the flow of ink from the back pads 2 and 3 to the front pad 6, the barrier preferably comprising perforated wax paper board. Covering the aforesaid layers is an envelope 7 which may comprise cotton nainsook or nylon. As shown in FIG. 4 the back pad 3 is shorter than the back pad 2 to provide a space in the plane of the back pad 3. Disposed in this space is an ink well 8 having openings 9 through which ink may feed to the pads 2 and 3. To distribute the ink uniformly throughout the back pads 2 and 3, the pad 3 has channels 11 in alignment with the openings 9 and with enlarged inlets 12 somewhat larger than the openings 9. Near opposite ends of the ink well 8 aligned openings extend through the layers 4, 6 and 7 through the ink well. Disposed in these openings are rivets 13 which overlap the ink well at the back and the covering 4 at the front.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 the pad may be charged with ink by inserting the nozzle 14 of a plastic ink bottle into one of the rivets 13 and squeezing the bottle, the other eyelet serving as a breather and overflow.

The pad is preferably mounted in a holder comprising a convex back 16, end 17 and a strip 18 welded or otherwise secured to the back 16. As shown in FIG. 1 the lower end of the back 16 has a flange 19 extending forwardly and upwardly to receive the lower edge of the ink pad and the strip 18 has a flange 21 overlapping the upper edge of the ink pad. To insert the pad it is flexed to a curvature somewhat more than that of the backing and its opposite edges are then snapped under the flanges 19 and 21 by the resiliency of the backing 1. The cartridge comprising the pad and holder may then be mounted in a machine such as shown in the aforsaid application by sliding the cartridge edgewise in place, the lower edge of the cartridge fitting in a recess 22 and the flange 23 on the upper edge of the cartridge sliding over a flange 24 of the machine.

The modification shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is like the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 except for the following differences. Instead of being curved like the backing 16, the backing 26 is flat and it has a partition 27 dividing it into two compartments for ink pads 28 and 29 which may contain inks of different colors, the partition 27 sealing each compartment from the other so that ink cannot migrate from one pad to the other. Also the pads 28 and 29 have only single eyelets 3'1 and 32 to serve as breather and overflow outlets. The ink well is like 8 of FIGS. 1 to 4 except in that it is divided into two parts by the partition 27, the parts being supplied with ink through openings in the end walls 33 and 34 instead of through eyelets in the pads. Ink may be supplied in any suitable way but as shown in FIG. 5 it it is supplied by gravity from bott-les through tubes 36 and 37. This modification has the advantage that, when installed in a machine such as shown in the aforesaid application, the pads may be replenished with ink while the machine is operating.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this in vention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

An inking device comprising a backing, a back ink absorbent pad in front of the backing, a front ink absorbent pad in front of the back pad, a barrier between the two pads to control the absorption of ink by the front pad from the back pad, a pervious covering for the front pad, an elongate inkwell in the plane of said back pad, a duct communicating with said well near each end of the well, the well having one or more outlets leading to said back pad, whereby ink may be fed to the back pad through one of said ducts, the other duct serving as a breather and overflow, said duots extending through said pervious covering and comprising eyelets extending through the front pad barrier and front of the well, said barrier being perforated and in contact with the back and front pads, said back pad having channels extending from said outlets to distribute ink throughout the pad, said channels being within the back pad and having opposite side walls defined by the back pad and having front and back walls defined by said back and perforated barrier, and a holder having lips overlapping opposite edges of the pad, the holder being convex and the backing bein-g resilient so that the pad may be snapped under the lips.

References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 379,793 3/1888 Laughton 118-264 1,024,193 4/1912 Folger l182 6'7 1,347,743 7/1920 Hidalgo 101125 4; Colville i 118-265 Underwood et a1. 118--264 Edgarton 11-8-264 Ryan 101335 Lyon.

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain. Great Britain.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

I. R. FISHER, Assistant Examiner. 

